Читать книгу The Truth About Hope - Kate James - Страница 15

CHAPTER SIX

PRISCILLA PACED ANXIOUSLY in front of the window of the upstairs sitting room. It had an unobstructed view of the driveway, so she’d know right away when Hope returned. Why didn’t that girl ever carry her mobile phone? But Priscilla knew the answer. She didn’t have many people she wanted to talk to. Priscilla had tried reaching Hope at the hospital, but they’d sent her on an errand and couldn’t reach her either.

Priscilla fretted that time was very much of the essence. She had no doubt that Mr. Wilson had taken Einstein to a pound and—true to his word—claimed him to be a threat and ordered him put down. By checking the last number dialed on his office phone, she’d identified the animal shelter Mr. Wilson had selected. She’d tried to call repeatedly, without success. If Hope wasn’t home soon, Priscilla would go there, even though she knew she’d lose her job if Mr. Wilson found out. She worried about how she’d support Molly if that happened, but she had to do what was right. What kind of role model would she be to her beloved little girl if she didn’t?

Just as Priscilla reached for the phone to call a taxi, Hope’s Audi rounded the curve. Priscilla dashed down the stairs and outside, grabbing Hope’s arms before she had a chance to get out of the car. “Something terrible has happened. Your father took Einstein—”

“Took him? Took him where?”

“He took Einstein to have him...put down.”

“What are you talking about?” Hope screamed, shrugging free of Priscilla’s hold. She was frantic. “Do you know where he took him?”

Priscilla reached in her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. “Here. I wrote down their number, too. I’ve been calling and calling, but it goes to voice mail every time. I’ve left a few urgent messages.”

“Okay, keep trying. Call me on my cell if you reach someone.”

“You don’t have it with you.”

“Right.” Hope was about to run inside.

“No. Don’t waste time. Here.” Priscilla took her own phone out of her pocket and handed it to Hope.

* * *

HOPE GRABBED THE phone and jumped back in her car. Speeding down the driveway, she was thankful for the first time that her father had bought her the little Audi. She hardly slowed at the foot of the drive and screeched out onto the road, cutting off another vehicle. A long, loud horn blast followed.

Glancing at the slip of paper on which Priscilla had written the address of the shelter, Hope set her navigation system through voice command. It wasn’t that far, but rush-hour traffic was bound to slow her down.

Please don’t let me be too late. Please don’t let me be too late, she chanted. She would’ve shot through the changing lights if not for the person ahead of her, who stopped his vehicle when the light turned amber. She tapped the steering wheel impatiently. “Come on. Come on.” When the lights changed, she waited for oncoming traffic to clear and roared past the vehicle in front of her. An approaching van had to swerve to avoid colliding with her. Another horn blared just as she was pulling back into her own lane. Cutting it that close had scared her. She’d be no good to Einstein if she got in an accident while trying to get to him. She slowed her speed and prayed she’d get there in time.

When Hope finally reached the animal facility she was shaking uncontrollably. She leaped out of her vehicle and ran in through the front door. Not seeing anyone at the counter, she rushed around it and into the back, where she could hear animal noises. A tall, slender man was bent over a bag of kibble, measuring food into metal dishes. She called out to him and he straightened, surprise evident on his face. “You’re not allowed back here.”

Hope skidded to a stop, her eyes desperately searching the small, rusty cages around them, looking for Einstein. Not seeing him, she feared the worst. She grasped the man’s arms. “I’m sorry, but you have to help me,” she pleaded with dry, heaving sobs. “My dog was brought in here earlier today, to be put down. It’s a huge mistake. He’s not dangerous. He’s as gentle as they come. It was my father. He never liked him and I need to get him. My dog, I mean—not my father.”

“Whoa. Slow down, will you. I didn’t catch all of that, but we don’t have anyone here today who can euthanize animals.”

The relief that coursed through Hope was instantaneous. “Okay. Okay. So please show me where Einstein is, so I can take him home.”

“Einstein? The large black-and-white dog, looks mostly like a Lab?”

“Yes!” Hope almost cried with relief. “Please take me to him.”

“I’m afraid I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t?” She cried. “You have to.”

“No. No. I would if I could. I can’t. He’s not here.”

“Where is he?”

“I was just coming on shift when that dude dropped him off. He claimed the dog was vicious and unpredictable. Said the dog had tried to attack him.”

“That is such a lie! Einstein wouldn’t hurt a mouse. Where is he?”

“Nancy, the other staffer who was here, took him. I have to admit, he didn’t seem mean to either of us. He was more terrified than anything, if you ask me. Well, since we don’t have anyone here to euthanize animals, as I told you, and we’re at capacity right now, Nancy arranged for the city’s animal control department to pick him up.”

“No!” Hope shouted. “He’s not dangerous. Where did they take him?”

The man provided the address and directions.

“Phone them.” She pointed a finger at him as she sprinted to the front door. “Please call them and tell them not to do anything to Einstein. I’m on my way to get him.” She swung around just before she exited. Her voice turned hard and cold. “Tell them if they so much as harm a hair on him, I’m...I’m going to sue them for every penny they have.” That would be no consolation if she lost Einstein, and she realized she sounded very much like her father, but she didn’t know what else to say.

Her stomach was churning with nausea as she raced to get to the animal control facility. She didn’t bother to park in the lot, just left her car in front of the building. She dashed up the steps to the door and pushed. It didn’t budge. She tried again; it was definitely locked. That was when she noticed the sign. Fridays they closed at four. It was now approaching five. She rattled the door again and screamed in frustration.

Looking around, she saw a couple of cars parked behind the building. That meant there had to be people inside. She ran toward the back; peering through a window, she could see two people moving around. Hope banged on the glass with her fist, but they didn’t seem to hear her. She continued around the side of the building, until she got to a large fenced yard. Inside the enclosure, there was a back door. Without hesitation, she climbed the chain-link fence, dropped down on the other side and ran to the door.

This time her pounding got the occupants’ attention. The two women looked at the door, then at each other. The taller woman approached Hope. “We’re closed,” she yelled through the glass.

“I know, but it’s urgent!” Hope shouted back. “Please open up.”

“Come back tomorrow,” the woman advised.

“No!” Hope pummeled the door again with both fists. “Please don’t walk away. Please. You have my dog and there’s been a terrible mistake.” Tears were brimming in her eyes, blurring her vision.

The woman paused. “Which dog?”

Hope described Einstein. “You have to let me take him home,” she finished, sobbing. “He’s all I have. He’s everything to me.”

The woman glanced back at her companion, exchanged some words with her, and then Hope heard the lock disengage and the door opened. “Thank you,” she breathed. “Please tell me he’s all right.”

The other woman joined them where they were standing. “He’s fine,” she assured Hope. “He was next on our list, but we couldn’t believe he’d hurt anyone. He’s such a sweet boy. We were just discussing what we should do. He’s scared, but he’s fine.”

Hope threw her arms around the woman, tears coursing down her face. “Oh, thank you.” She hugged the other woman, too. “Please take me to him.”

Einstein might have been big, but when he was released from his cage, he crawled into Hope’s lap, licking every inch of her face and neck. She hugged him tight and buried her face in his fur. “You’re okay, pal. You’re okay,” she murmured, attempting to soothe him as much as herself.

When she finally stood up, Einstein plastered himself to the side of her leg like Velcro.

“We’re glad you got here in time.” One of the women trailed a hand along Einstein’s back. “We fell for the big guy.”

“Believe me, we don’t want to euthanize any animal,” the other woman added. “But look at this place. We’re out of room, as you can see, and we have more and more animals coming in. When they’re hurt or sick, we can’t tend them properly. The city just doesn’t provide enough funding for veterinary services for all the strays and injureds we get.”

“We wish there was more we could do,” the taller woman interjected as they walked through the kennel area to the front office. “But we just don’t have the resources or the facilities.”

Hope’s heart broke as she looked around at the sad-eyed cats and dogs, resigned because they’d been there too long, and the eager new arrivals, trying to catch her attention, begging her to free them from their small, dank cages.

“I can’t thank you enough,” Hope said as she signed the paperwork to claim Einstein.

“We’re happy to have you two reunited!” one of the women told her.

“Take care of each other.” The other woman waved goodbye.

Outside, Hope took Einstein for a walk, letting him stretch his legs and work off some of his nervous energy. She also needed the fresh air.

The relief she felt that the unimaginable hadn’t happened left her weak and a little dizzy. Now that Einstein was safely with her again, her anxiety was crowded out by an intense anger. How callous of her father to do what he did! Didn’t he appreciate what Einstein meant to her? He knew full well that Einstein wasn’t dangerous. Why hadn’t he waited until she got home so they could have worked things out?

Hope couldn’t take Einstein back to her father’s house, now that she’d seen what he was capable of. But where could they go?

Did it really matter? Anywhere was better than living with such a dreadful man. He obviously didn’t love her and never would. They simply coexisted beneath one roof...one very big roof!

She stopped suddenly. How could she have forgotten? Her birthday was next week! She would be eighteen years old. Legally an adult. That meant she could leave her father.

She let Einstein jump in the car and took her time driving home. She was no longer in a hurry, and she needed a chance to think. To figure things out. She didn’t have to worry about facing her father that evening, because he was staying overnight at the hotel after his business function. Small blessings, she thought. If she just packed up and left that night, she wondered if he’d do anything about it.

Yes, he would, she decided. She was no more than a possession to him, and he was greedy with his possessions. He would find her if for no other reason than to prove that he was in control. That he could.

By the time Hope reached the house, she had a plan. She pulled up to the garage rather than the front of the house. Even though she knew her father wasn’t home because he would’ve left for his evening engagement by now, she didn’t want to risk Einstein being seen. She didn’t trust all her father’s employees the way she did Priscilla and Morris. Not that the others were bad people; they were just fearful of her father.

She left Einstein in the car. He whined and pawed at the window, obviously not wanting to be separated from her again so soon. She spoke to him reassuringly, then climbed the stairs at the side of the garage. She knocked and was about to knock again when Morris opened the door. Sitting inside on his sofa was Priscilla. From the look of her flushed, puffy face, Hope surmised that she’d been crying.

Seeing her, Priscilla shoved the soggy tissue she held into her pocket and rushed over. “Did you find Einstein? Is he okay?”

Hope nodded. “He’s fine. He’s in my car. I’m sorry—I should’ve called,” she said regretfully.

“Oh, thank goodness you found him,” Priscilla exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Hope. “I’ve been worried sick. It’s all my fault. If anything had happened to him, I...I don’t know how you’d ever forgive me. I don’t know if I could’ve forgiven myself.” She withdrew the tissue from her pocket and blew her nose loudly.

Morris touched Priscilla’s shoulder. “Why don’t the two of you sit down. I’ll get Einstein. He shouldn’t stay cramped up in that little car, especially after what he’s been through.”

Hope smiled at him gratefully. A moment later, the door opened again, and Einstein scurried into the room. Hope noted that Morris still looked glum, and it didn’t seem to have anything to do with Einstein. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You should tell her,” Morris said to Priscilla. “She needs to know.”

Priscilla stared intently at her hands. “It’s not something she should worry about.”

“It certainly is,” Morris replied with more heat than Hope had ever seen the stoic chauffeur exhibit.

“I’m sitting right here! Please don’t talk as if I am not. Tell me what?” Having already gone through the gamut of emotions, Hope felt her stomach tense once more. She slid her gaze from Morris to Priscilla.

Morris sat down and took Priscilla’s hand in his. “She needs to know, since you’ll both have to be careful.”

“Careful about what?”

Priscilla drew in a huge breath. “Your father confronted me, when he got back from the pound. He said I was growing too close to you.”

“I don’t understand. We’ve been careful. He doesn’t know we’re friends.”

Morris passed Priscilla a fresh tissue so she could dab at her eyes. “We have been, yes, but maybe not enough. You see, I defied him when he was taking Einstein to the pound. So when he got back, he reprimanded me for being...insubordinate.”

Morris snorted.

“He said how dare I question his decision-making, and that I was forgetting my place because of our relationship. Yours and mine.”

Morris cut in. “How could she forget? She works insanely long hours, even though she’s supposed to be done by five.”

Hope watched as Priscilla patted Morris’s knee, and she wondered if she’d missed something between her two friends.

“Anyway, your father said I had to stop being friendly with you,” Priscilla told her apologetically.

“Yeah. He said she was just the help, and if she didn’t know her place, she’d be easy to replace.”

Priscilla choked back a sob. “Your father pays very well, and even with all the help I get from Molly’s grandmothers, I need the income for her.”

Hope knew how dedicated Priscilla was to her daughter, and she was fully aware of Molly’s special needs. “You won’t lose your job,” she assured her, and the plan she’d formulated on the drive home gelled in her mind. She had to leave her father’s house, not only because of Einstein, but because of her friends. She couldn’t let Priscilla or any of them suffer on her account. She was about to tell them about her decision, but if her father found out that they knew, he would just as likely fire them both.

No, she couldn’t take them into her confidence. “I’ll think of something,” she said vaguely. She turned her attention to Morris. “I can’t take Einstein into the house with me until I get things sorted out. Could we set up a space for him in the garage again, like you did when he was a puppy?” She forced a rueful smile. “But this time so he can’t escape?”

Morris ran a hand along Einstein’s back, as he lay at their feet. “That won’t be necessary. He can stay here in my apartment for as long as you want. If he’s here or out in the back, your father won’t know.”

“I appreciate it. Please keep him out of everyone’s sight,” Hope added as she stood, Einstein clambering up beside her. She hugged them both. “I promise it won’t be long.”

She already knew the issue would be resolved in a week. She and Einstein would be gone the day after she turned eighteen.